{"id":79413,"date":"2019-12-13T05:43:05","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T12:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=79413"},"modified":"2019-12-13T06:47:48","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T13:47:48","slug":"if-you-think-birds-dont-notice-the-little-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/13\/if-you-think-birds-dont-notice-the-little-things\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Think Birds Don’t Notice The Little Things…"},"content":{"rendered":"

you’d be wrong. This male American Kestrel is the proof in the pudding.<\/p>\n

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1\/5000, f\/6.3 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

In October of 2015 I found him on top of a kestrel nest box at Farmington Bay WMA as he enjoyed a breakfast of grasshopper. Nesting season was over so I was a little surprised when he finished his meal and then…<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

flew down to enter the box. Kestrels occasionally roost in nest boxes any time of year so maybe his intention was simply to check it out. This shot was taken just before he entered the box.<\/p>\n

Notice the house fly to the right of his head. That fly and others were buzzing around the box but he paid them absolutely no attention. After all, he wasn’t interested in them as food and they presented no threat to him (they obviously had no stinger). He absolutely knew this fly and others were there but he ignored them completely as he entered the box.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Not so with another flying insect of the same size as he prepared to exit the box. This one wasn’t a house fly, instead it appeared to be some kind of stinging insect, possibly a small bee (more clearly seen in the last photo below).<\/p>\n

His gaze never left that “bee” (or whatever it was) as it buzzed around the box.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

He twisted his head to follow the little bee…<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

wherever it went in three dimensions…<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

until after this shot was taken when the bee harmlessly flew off. Apparently he wanted to make damn sure he wasn’t stung.<\/p>\n

I’m convinced that the difference between how the kestrel reacted to the fly and how it reacted to the bee was because he recognized the latter as a potential stinging threat. I’ve seen similar reactions from various species of songbirds – very little escapes the attention of birds. The kestrel not only noticed the small flying insect, he distinguished between it and the harmless species. He noticed “the little things” I referred to in my title.<\/p>\n

Which is more than I can say for yours truly who didn’t even notice that my camera was tilted when I took this series. I rotated the previous photos to level during processing but I couldn’t rotate this last shot because if I had it would have cropped out the bee.<\/p>\n

Readers know I have an issue with keeping my camera level. If nothing else I’m consistent with my bad habits.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/p>\n